


It's Gotta Be You

by McGlitterPawz



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe- College/University - Freeform, Art Student Zayn Malik, Ashe is here because i love her, Bakery Shop Owner Harry Styles, F/M, Groundhog Day, Harry is a business major, Liam Payne and Harry Styles are roommates, M/M, Music Student Louis Tomlinson, Music Student Niall Horan, Niall Horan and Harry Styles friendship, Niall and Ashe are best friends, Nice Eleanor Calder, SO, What else is new, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson Are Roommates, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson friendship, alternate universe- non-famous, basically he sings, because I miss them, but I'm gonna do it, but it's music performance not production, college essay who, doing this instead of college applications, don't disrespect my girl, i know nothing about music production majors except from my brother who is a music ed major, it pained me to make this multiple chapters, oh my god they were roommates, that's it i can't write smut, there's some smooching, there's that, why isn't Ashe already a character on here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27676759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McGlitterPawz/pseuds/McGlitterPawz
Summary: Louis just wants to make it through New Year's Eve; but, no matter how hard he tries, he keeps waking up on December 31st.Harry's family is all over the country for New Year's, and he can't decide whether or not to accept Zayn's invitation to his party.Neither of them could have guessed the other would be the solution to their problems.OrA self-indulgent Groundhog Day AU where Louis can't move on to the new year and he can't figure out why and Harry is a baker.
Relationships: (Past) Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Kudos: 6





	It's Gotta Be You

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Thanks for reading.  
> Sorry if this is a bit OOC at times, I haven't written for Louis yet.  
> I don't know Ashe's ex-husband name so now he's ~Jack~  
> This is set in Florida and the boys mostly go to USF which is in Tampa because I know next to nothing about the British education system.  
> Enjoy!

Louis wakes up to his alarm on December 31st and stretches. He picks up his phone from where it sat charging the night before, turning the alarm off, and checks the time. He has a text from Ashe and a few emails from his school. Ashe is begging him to pick up coffee for the two of them before he goes into work. He huffs a laugh and gets up, shooting back a “I see how it is. Sure, what do you want” before stepping into his clothes for the day. Zayn has already left for the day, probably to go hang out with that boy he’s been nonstop texting, and so Louis has to the apartment to himself this morning. As he works on his hair, Ashe sends her order with at least 12 yellow hearts next to it. Louis rolls his eyes but smiles and grabs his keys before he leaves.

There’s dozens of little cafes and coffee chains on the way to the recording studio where he and Ashe both work as interns for their degree in music production, but Louis only has to walk across the street to get to the bakery he knows has Ashe’s favorite scones. The bell rings softly as Louis walks into the empty store. The employee behind the counter is a kind-looking ginger man, talking quickly into his phone. Louis catches the tail end of his conversation before the employee spots him and murmurs something before hanging up.

Louis smiles politely at him and speaks, “Hello.”

The man smiles and responds, “Hey, what can I get ya?” Louis glances at Ashe’s order and dutifully recites it before adding his own.

The employee frowns apologetically and says, “Sorry, mate. We actually just ran out of Yorkshire yesterday.” Louis frowns in response and glances at their selection of teas.

“Plain black with milk and one scoop of sugar then, if you can.” The employee smiles and goes about getting Louis’ order. The door rings again as a couple of girls step into the small bakery and Louis shoots a polite grin. When Louis leaves, it’s with a dejected sigh and a drink carrier, the bag of scones hanging from his elbow.

Ashe giggles happily when Louis sets the drinks and food on the break room table with a quiet thud. They eat quickly, chatting about their coursework. At noon, they’re called into a session with a young girl band writing their first album. Songwriting is what called Louis to music production in the first place, and he and Ashe share a natural affinity for it. They work with a few songs, handing out different phrases or a counter melody when they think it’s necessary.

“What if we changed it from ‘but’ to ‘and’ in this verse?” Ashe suggests, leaning forward onto one fist, “I think that sends a better message for you guys, especially for those younger listeners.”

The girls smile and agree, and overall, they seem nice, if not a bit timid. Once their supervisor is content with their results, the girls go into the recording booth and that’s where Louis and Ashe step out. They have a few more things to attend to before the workday is over and then Louis has to drive to some Thai place Zayn found the other day to meet him for lunch.

Louis parks on the side of the road and heads inside, where Zayn is waiting near a window, face lit from his phone, which he seems to be smiling softly at. Louis grins mischievously at that and slides into the chair across from him. Zayn startles a bit at his sudden company but smiles and sets his phone down.

“Hey, Lou. How was work?”

Louis recounts what he remembers of the day and how Ashe had practically squealed when he walked into the building with her food and coffee. Zayn laughs at that and then launches into a story about their friend and Ashe’s best friend Niall. After a few more minutes and some obnoxious laughter on Louis’ part, Zayn’s phone lights up and he glances at it before turning back to Louis, a question looming on his tongue.

“Hey, so about the New Year’s Party—”

“Small get together,” Louis corrects.

“ _Party_ tonight,” Zayn stresses, a teasing smile on his lips, “I was wondering if a friend of mine could come? I know it’s just close friends but—” He cuts himself off as the waiter comes over, answering her questions politely. Louis’ mind drifts to who it could be Zayn wants to invite. He’s reminded then of how Zayn has been practically glued to his phone recently and spending all his free time with the same boy recently. _What was that boy’s name… Liam? Yes! Liam._ Zayn has just thanked the waiter and looks like he wants to jump right back into their conversation—and frankly, so does Louis; he wants to be able to tease his best friend mercilessly for how smitten he must be with this new boy—but Louis’ phone has just started ringing. They both jump a bit at the sudden noise and Louis checks the caller ID before standing up.

“It’s my sister. One second, we’re not done talking about this,” He states with a knowing smile and then turns and accepts the call.

~

Lottie, it turns out, is at the airport. Their mother, however, is not.

“Louis, thanks so much again for picking me up!” Louis smiles and takes Lottie’s suitcase from her, hauling it into his trunk. She’s just flown in from North Carolina, where she goes to school, and their mother was supposed to drive from Orlando to pick her up, but, as Lottie quickly explained over the phone, she’s in the middle of a birth right now. Since Louis is an amazing big brother, it was,

“No biggie,” Louis sends a grin to his sister. She smiles back, “Since you’re here, d’you wanna hang for a bit?” Lottie is glowing when she happily agrees and then they’re off to Louis’ and Zayn’s apartment to drop off her stuff. Louis parks on the street across from his complex and takes Lottie’s bags out of his trunk. Lottie closes the trunk and settles her hands on her hips, looking around. She’s been to Louis’ place maybe once when he was moving in.

“This is a really good area,” she points to her left, “You have a bakery across the street from your apartment? How are you not fat?” Louis snorts and starts across the street.

“Unlike you, I have some self-control.”

“Oi, watch it, brat.”

Louis laughs again, and they head inside. Louis puts her bags by the door, thanking the universe for the creation of the elevator, and then he heads to his room to change out of his work clothes. He pulls on his favorite black skinnies as Lottie yells through the door, “So when does Eleanor get back?”

Louis almost trips over himself. _Eleanor._

He checks the time on his watch, wincing when it reads 5:37 and shoves a red jumper over his head as he yells back.

“4, but she had some meeting first. We’re supposed to go out for dinner.” Lottie makes an interested noise.

“Anytime soon?”

Louis picks up his phone as he swings his bedroom door open. _3 Missed calls from ‘El’_

“Shit.”

He types out _‘Hey, what’s up?’_ and then looks up at Lottie, who is shaking her head at him.

“Oi, watch it, brat.” She giggles back.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes?”

“You’re guessing right.” Louis gets back a quick response _‘Couple of friends wanted to take me out for dinner, so I won’t make it tonight. See you at the party.’_ Louis sighs a breath of relief and types out a quick _‘See you then.’_

“She’s going to dinner with her work friends. What are you in the mood for then, sis?” Lottie narrows her eyes at him and studies him for a moment.

“You don’t seem that upset about your long-term girlfriend ditching you to hang out with her works friends after having been out of town for a month.” Louis just shrugs and when that just makes his sister quirk a brow, he sighs.

“To be honest, Lottie, I’m a bit relieved,” Lottie pulls a face, so Louis continues, “We haven’t really been in a real relationship for a while, I think both of us are just kind of waiting for the other to break things off. We haven’t been in love for a long time. Plus, she’s gone all the time, and she’s moving to L.A. this February. I’m pretty sure a break-up is in our near future.”

Lottie hums comfortingly and pulls Louis into a hug.

“Are you okay?” Louis draws in a deep breath, tightening his arms around his sister, who he loves very much right now. It’s been too long since they’ve seen each other. Louis missed her hugs. Misses his whole family actually. They’re having a late Christmas/Birthday celebration on the 3rd, which is why and because Lottie just flew in. He suddenly can’t wait.

“I’m good. I love El, and we’ll stay friends. I think we were better that way to begin with anyway.” Louis means it. As much as he loves El, their relationship isn’t much of one anymore. The more Louis has thought about it, he isn’t sure they were ever really in one to begin with. When they started dating, nearly three years ago in high school, it was more out of what people expected of them, having grown up best friends, than what he actually wanted, Louis can admit. But his sister is here, and he hasn’t seen her in ages, and he decides they’re going to have fun. Louis unwraps himself and grabs his jean jacket and keys.

“Alright, enough crying then. Don’t want to mess up me mascara.” Lottie snorts and they head back outside.

“I’m literally starving Lou, it’s time for food,” Lottie informs him as the exit the building. Louis snorts and checks both ways before leading his sister across the road back to his car.

“I don’t know, I could probably wait an hour or two…” Lottie smacks him in the arm and it only makes him laugh harder.

“Hey, let’s go to this bakery, they have dinner foods too!”

Louis looks past Lottie to where she’s pointing and sees the exact place that he went to this morning. He remembers one specific fact. An important one.

“Absolutely not.”

Lottie turns to him and smiles at his bluntness. She rolls her eyes as him, “And why’s that, King Louis?”

Louis pointedly ignores the nickname and states haughtily, “They don't even have Yorkshire tea, Lottie and I refuse to give my business to anyone not cultured enough to have Yorkshire tea. I have standards, thank you.” Thinking about this morning reminds him of Ashe’s face when he brought in her food and how Zayn had almost spit out his water when Louis tried to reenact it. He did a pretty good job if he said so himself. His mind goes back to Zayn and he remembers how he hadn’t ever answered his question about inviting his friend— _Liam_ , he reminds himself. _Gotta remember his name this time._ He pulls out his phone to send a quick text and vaguely hears Lottie whine next to him.

“But Louiiiiiis! Muffins! Plus, that guy is hot!” Louis just snorts in response and unlocks the car.

_‘hey, i almost forgot, you can def invite that guy over, the more the merrier. plus, I know you’ll want another person who’s not a music major to be boring with so I’ll allow it.’_

The response is quick.

_‘he took a shift actually so he can’t come, thanks tho bro’  
‘also fuck you’_

Louis laughs at that and shows Lottie when she quirks a brow at him. In the back of his head, Louis feels bad for his friend, who obviously wanted to spend New Year’s with this new boy. _Poor Zaynie_. He shuts his car door and typed out a quick _‘love u bb’_ before he and Lottie took off in search of food.

~

After a laughter-filled dinner and a denied invitation to spend the night at Louis’ (“I promised Mom I’d be home today, plus I really miss Fizzy”), Louis grabs Lottie’s bags and they start the two hour drive to Orlando from Tampa. The traffic isn’t bad, for I4 anyway, and they make it there with enough time for Jay to convince Louis to stay an hour. He leaves then with a promise to be back in a couple of days and drives back to his apartment. It’s completely night now, around 9 when he gets back on the interstate, and Louis feels his bones settle at his first moment by himself today. He lets his thoughts wander and comes up with a few more song ideas that he’ll have to write down as soon as he gets home. He pulls into his actual parking space and it’s around 11:45 when he unlocks the door to his apartment complex and enters. It’s cutting it close, but he still has time until midnight so he can bring in the New Year with his friends. He stills at his front door and takes a moment to compose himself. Bringing in the New Year has never been something he’s thought about, not while he’s doing it anyway. He spent the first 17 years of his life trading kisses on the cheek with his mother and his sisters, and when Eleanor had come into his life as his girlfriend, he spent the next three years bringing in the new year with a quick peck and a happy smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He wasn’t sure if he could fake it this year.

Apparently, his thoughts were too loud because Niall pulls the door open and draws him into an engulfing hug with a cheer.

“Tommo! You’re here! I was starting to wonder if I’d be stuck with _Ashe_ for my New Year’s kiss.” Louis laughs and hears Ashe yell an offended _“Hey!”_ from behind him. Niall lets go and moves out of the way for Ashe herself to greet him. She’s wearing yellow sunnies and a huge cowboy hat with sparkles all over it. Now that he’s out of his arms, Louis can see Niall’s wearing a matching one and his own dark black sunglasses. Why, Louis does not know, but he’s not sure they do either, so he lets it go. Ashe gives him a quick peck on the cheek and pulls him in, haughtily shouting over her shoulder, “If only you’d be so lucky, _Neil_.” He laughs and catches a glare from Ashe’s fiancé directed at Niall. _Interesting…_

He’s pulled into a conversation with the two best friends about their shared professor that has them all doubled over laughing in minutes and Louis almost forgets why he was rushing here. At that thought, he straightens and announces that he’s going to look for Eleanor. Niall and Ashe share a glance and then Niall gives him one hard pat on the back and a closed-mouth grin that puts Louis on edge. _God, are we that obvious?_

He doesn’t have to go far to find his girlfriend, just wanders into his kitchen and she’s leaning against a counter, typing something into her phone as she sips from a champagne glass that Louis has no idea where she got considering he doesn’t think he or Zayn have ever owned a champagne glass. Or champagne. When Louis stops next to her and leans sideways on the same counter, she looks up and gives the slightest hint of a smile. Neither of them say anything for a moment and Louis finds himself holding his breath in the wort way possible. Finally, Louis braces himself and clears his throat.

“Hey El… how was L.A.?” She smiles, the light on her phone sending shadows dancing over her skin.

“Good, really good. I signed the contract for my new place, went out with some of my friends. It’s so nice out there.”

Louis smiles. He really is happy that El found her place in the world. She had come to UT when Louis moved to USF but found she was never really happy with it. This past year she had been working on transferring to UCLA and could not be more excited about it. It brings a dull pain to Louis’ heart to see her go, because she is his oldest and best friend, but he knows it’s better for her, and staying would just be worse for both of them. It takes a moment for conversation to pick up, because the two of them both know what’s going unsaid.

“So, Louis, listen—”

_10_

“Louis get your arse in here for the countdown!” Niall whoops from his living room, the rest of his friends having congregated there.

_9_

Eleanor sighs but tilts her head toward them and they both step off of the counter.

_8_

Louis shuffles into the living room, Eleanor somewhere behind him.

_7_

Everyone is yelling the countdown loudly and, even with the guaranteed split between them looming, Louis can’t help but smile being surrounded by his friends.

_6_

Ashe’s fiancé, Jack pulls her roughly away from Niall by her wrist and Louis frowns.

_5_

Niall sends Ashe an apologetic look but just sidles over to someone else to shout in their ear.

_4_

Louis feels someone tugging at the sleeve of his jumper and turns to see Eleanor giving him a sad smile.

_3_

Louis returns it and steps closer to her.

_2_

The motions of kissing Eleanor are ones that come automatically, and Louis is startled by the thought that he’s essentially going through the motions with her.

_1_

He can’t really dwell on it because then everyone is shouting.

_Happy New Year!_

Louis closes his eyes as he and Eleanor’s lips press together softly. He feels a whooshing movement in his stomach and the temperature spikes and he feels something wrapped around him and something soft behind his head and the light behind his eyelids has changed and when he opens his eyes again—

He’s in bed.

Louis sits completely still.

_How the fuck did I get here?_

It takes him a moment but then the sound of his alarm going off floats into his headspace. Louis looks around his bed and then sits up hesitantly, like if he moves too fast, he’ll be sent right back to where he was, what three seconds ago? His eyes widen as he looks at his phone.

_‘Hello dear Louis, love of my life, father to my unborn song babies, could you please please pleaseeee grab coffee and food on your way to the studio?? I promise that I'll love you for the rest of our lives !!’_

Louis shakes his head and thinks about it.

Ok, it was a party. There was booze. Louis had too much. He blacked out. Except Louis knew he had to work the next day. And Louis doesn’t _get_ black-out drunk.

Louis fainted. He was overwhelmed and he passed out, on the spot. Someone tucked him into bed and—

Changed him into the black tee, boxers, and socks he accidentally fell asleep in the night before?

“What is happening?” Louis muttered to himself, throwing his sheets off abruptly and checking the date on his phone.

_December 31 st._

So… there’s that.

~

Louis is proud to say he does not outright panic.

Well, there’s some panicking involved, but—not the point.

He spends a full five minutes checking every clock in his and Zayn’s apartment for the date. He even opens Zayn’s laptop, wincing when it reads the same date as everything else.

 _December 31 st_.

After he’s run out of things to check, and his breath at conducting a full ransack of their place, he throws himself face down in his bed and contemplates what the _fuck_ he’s supposed to do.

He groans loudly into his sheets after a second of his thoughts overpowering his mind and sits up.

With a determined set of his jaw, Louis decides. Maybe he’s absolutely delusional and has imagined yesterday, maybe a fucking fairy has sent him back in time, Louis doesn’t _know_ —but the best thing, in Louis limited experience at reliving full days, to do, he decides, is nothing.

Maybe it’s pathetic to just pretend it didn’t happen but fuck it Louis is tired, and he just wants to move on with his life. Plus, he has no idea if this is real and it’s not like yesterday hadn’t gone well.

 _Except for that awful run-in with Eleanor,_ the annoying part of his mind reminds him.

Fuck his mind today, honestly.

He texts Ashe back the same response as yesterday—today?—and heads across the street to the same bakery to buy their breakfast. His thoughts are running a mile a minute, but Louis does his best to act as if everything were normal and he’s not possibly reliving his whole day again. This time when he walks in, he listens to the employee’s conversation, unable to take himself off of high alert mode.

“—sure no one will come in on New Year’s…” He spots Louis at the counter and murmurs a goodbye before focusing on him. Louis smiles hesitantly.

“Hello.”

The ginger smiles, “Hey, what can I get ya?” Louis stares for a second, but then glances at his phone and half-recites, half-remembers what Ashe had requested. He hesitates when he goes to order.

“Do you guys have Yorkshire tea?”

The ginger frowns apologetically.

“We’ve just ran out yesterday.“ “Yesterday. Shit.” Louis finishes quietly at the same time as the man— _Ed_ , his name tag reads—does. The man looks confused as Louis orders the same black tea and shuffles uncomfortably.

At work, Louis laughs at Ashe’s face when he appears with her scones and coffee. When they get pulled into the same session with the same girl group— _Little Mix,_ god, now he realizes how inattentive he’d been the day before—Louis recognizes the corrections Ashe will make before she does it.

“What if we changed it from ‘but’ to ‘and’ in this verse?” She suggests and before she can say it, Louis adds, “I think that sends a better message for you guys, especially for those younger listeners.” Ashe seems surprised at Louis’ outburst but grins appreciatively and says, “Exactly!”

Louis grins back but his confusion over the whole ordeal stops it from reaching his eyes.

If Ashe notices, she doesn’t say anything.

Louis feels like he’s floating as he finishes the work he’s already done, but somehow hasn’t.

Was he dreaming? Was what he thought was yesterday just some intricate dream Louis’ mind made just to fuck with him? Louis wouldn’t be surprised. His imagination is a dick sometimes. Louis clutches the pen he’s scribbling notes with harder, taking a deep breath. He has no idea what he’s supposed to do. What’s the normal procedure for when you wake up to the day before?? Is this some serious déjà vu?

Ashe walks past his desk, shouting a see you soon over her shoulder and Louis snaps out of his thoughts, mumbling back a response.

At two, Louis spots Zayn at a table near a window, face in a soft smile toward his phone. Louis can’t find it in him to tease his best friends about it and sits down with a soft smile instead. He realizes halfway into the same story about Niall that right now Lottie is getting off her plane and realizing no one is there to pick her up. He tries not to let his reaction play on his face and nods, laughing loudly at something Zayn has just said, as he slyly tries to check his phone. He types out a quick text to Lottie asking if she’s landed yet. After a few more sentences, Zayn trails off at Louis frowning at his phone. Louis looks up guiltily. He didn’t mean for his distress to be visible, and he never wants Zayn to think he’s not listening when in reality it took close to a year of waiting, pestering, and intently listening to his every word for Louis to wheedle out a personal statement from his roommate and now best friend. Maybe Zayn can tell he’s about to apologize and tell him to go on, Louis has always been an open book to his best friend, who reads him so well it scares him sometimes, because then he just smiles a closed mouth smile with knowing eyes. When he quirks a brow almost imperceptibly, Louis lets a breath out, embarrassed at being caught in his inner turmoil and turns his phone to Zayn who scans Louis and Lottie’s short conversation, ending in a simple, _“I’ll be there in 30”_. Zayn gets up, pushing his napkin onto the table temporarily and comes around the table to press a short hug into Louis’ side.

“See ya, Lou. Tell Lottie she owes me $5.”

~

The airport traffic is unbearable, and Louis almost wishes he had left at the same time as yesterday—today? Yestoday? Louis snorts in amusement at the thought—but then remembers how Lottie had been sitting in the terminal for almost an hour waiting for someone to come get her and he can’t bring himself to be that upset over some shuttles going five under the speed limit. His mind is racing again, trying to remember exactly what it is that he and Lottie spoke about before and he feels dread curling through his stomach uncomfortably.

Eleanor has probably just pulled into town and is now deciding to cancel their dinner reservation. Louis swallows thickly.

When he pulls his sister into a welcoming hug and his car, he ignores his phone buzzing repeatedly in his pocket.

~

Lottie is happy to stay for dinner, only frowning at Louis indifference over his date being canceled three times before resignation takes over her features and she humors her brother. Louis has never loved her more.

They catch up on the drive to Louis’ apartment and again Lottie comments on the little bakery settled across the street. Louis takes a moment to look at it and the outline of its few occupants closer before he snarks back, “They don't even have Yorkshire tea, Lottie and I refuse to give my business to anyone not cultured enough to have Yorkshire tea. I have standards, thank you.”

~

Lottie brings up Eleanor at dinner this time and Louis holds back an annoyed sigh. He’s responded to her texts an hour ago, repeating that they’ll see each other at the party later; he’s not heartless. After all, he harbors no bad feelings toward his oldest friend, just an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction from not being to fall in love with her like he thought he could. He tries to shake those thoughts and responds when he realizes Lottie has been staring expectantly at him for a while.

“We broke up.”

It’s a bit of a stretch because he technically hasn’t spoken to her yet today, but even if it doesn’t pan out exactly like yesterday did, Louis knows the end is inevitable. No use pulling his punches. Lottie blinks a few times, eyes wide, but then she just lets out a relieved sigh. Louis can tell she’s holding back a “finally.” He lets out a surprised bark of laughter and leans forward onto his elbows at the small table they’re sitting in.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He’s not mad though, just desperate to know why Lottie barely seems shocked.

She gives him a nervous glance, but a smile is tugging at her lips. He can’t help but mimic it.

“Well, I mean…” She trails off, waving a hand in explanation. Louis opens his hands confusedly, gesturing for her to continue on. She sends him a look like the answer is obvious and when she speaks, it’s with a concerned set of her brows.

“Louis… you weren’t in love with her… right? I mean it never seemed so. Like,” she moves a clump of rice across her plate, “you guys always just seemed like really close friends?”

Louis huffs a laugh. Lottie’s face morphs into a deep frown as she leans forward in her seat.

“Louis?” She pushes a hand toward him across the high top they’re seated at, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know…” Louis bats her hand away with a disgruntled noise but she latches on.

“I’m not—we really weren’t in love; I mean you’re right. I just…” He glances at the family of four seated behind them, “I feel bad.”

Lottie frowns and seems to be trying to read his mind for a moment or two before she simply pushes out a sigh and squeezes their joined hands. Louis shoots her a smile and ensures her that he is honestly fine before the waitress comes with the check.

Twenty minutes later at Louis’ flat, Lottie seems a bit surprised when Louis goes for her luggage and offers her a ride home.

“Wow, you’re not even gonna invite me to your party?”

Louis smiles exasperatedly and without thinking about it responds with, “I know you want to see Fizzy. Plus, Mom would kill me for keeping you to myself.”

He can feel her inquisitive stare at the back of his head as she slowly responds, “You’re right.” Louis sends her a strained smile and they take off on the two-hour drive from Tampa to Orlando. Why Lottie had flown into the Tampa airport instead of the one in Orlando, Louis had no idea. Their mother insisted it was safer, but Louis suspected she had wanted Louis to spend some time with his sister alone. Damn mother’s intuition.

~

The next few hours pass in a blur of headlights, Lottie’s shitty taste in music, and the smell of the Warm and Cozy candles that Jay lights around this time every year. By the time Louis makes it back into town and to his apartment, he’s emotionally and physically spent from the day and he just wants to crawl into his bed and force Zayn to cuddle him. Unluckily for him, his home has been invaded by the endless sources of energy known as Ashe and Niall and he barely makes it in three steps before he is being bombarded again by two shade-wearing sparkly cowboy hats.

“Louehhhhh! Welcome to mi cas—”

“Niallerrrr this is _Louis’_ casa, not yours—”

“Are you trying to start a fight _Ashlyn Rae_ —”

“I’m gonna go say hi to El…”

He doesn’t get any sympathy from the pair this time around as they’re locked in a battle involving way too much alcohol. As he enters the kitchen this time, Eleanor is nowhere to be found. He furrows a brow and grabs his own drink before setting off to look for her. As he enters the living room, he catches sight of a brunette he’s never seen before, locked in a deep conversation with Zayn. Before he can figure out that mystery, there’s a light touch on his shoulder and a high-pitched voice in his ear, “Louis?” Eleanor is standing just behind him, phone still glowing at her side, and a not-all-the-way-there smile. Louis can barely muster his own as he leans down to place a peck on her cheek.

“Hey El. How was dinner?” She frowns at him and opens her mouth before closing it just as fast. Finally she whispers out a “Fine.” Louis gives a small smile and she returns it. They sit in silence for a moment and Louis has just started “Can we talk?” before once again they are being pulled toward the TV.

_10_

Louis can just barely hear Eleanor’s response, “I think we need to.”

_9_

Louis sighs and place an arm around her shoulders.

_8_

Eleanor rests her head on his shoulder.

_7_

Louis feels like it needs to be said so he just whispers, “You know I love you, right?”

_6_

Eleanor smiles and says, “I know. I love you.”

_5_

Out of the corner of his eye, Louis spots Zayn watching him concernedly. The same brunette is hovering next to him and wringing his hands nervously. _Interesting_.

_4_

Louis sends Zayn a small smile in assurance.

_3_

Eleanor looks up at him and Louis looks back.

_2_

_1_

_Happy New Year!_

Louis closes his eyes and presses a kiss to Eleanor’s cheek.

He opens them and he’s in his bed again.

~

It’s the fifth time now that he’s woken up in his bad after one disastrous day after the other. This isn’t what is slowly driving Louis up the walls, he’s dealt with that before. The problem is that it’s the _same_ awful day on repeat. After the third day he’d called out sick and spent his entire morning researching what the fuck was going on with him. As he suspected, all he found was a bunch of works of fiction and a diagnosis that he really didn’t want to read into.

“Fuck this,” he had grumbled, and slammed Zayn’s laptop shut. He had been home late enough that day to see Zayn emerge from his room and head off to his morning class, eyes half open and coffee held close to his body as if just the fumes were enough to keep him going. When Zayn had spotted Louis hunched over his laptop at the kitchen, he barely even reacted, pressing a kiss to his head and then giving him a pat on the back until he mumbled something that resembled a goodbye and left.

Now Louis is sitting up quietly in his bed, contemplating.

There has to be a reason for him to be stuck reliving the same day over. Louis had sat through enough movies and tv shows with Niall to know there was something he needed to do. Considering there were no rodents around, Louis figured ‘Groundhog Day’-ing it was out of the picture. But maybe there was something he needed to do differently for him to break out of this loop. He thought back on the day and his interactions.

Louis sighed until something popped into his head. He had been so down about his impending break up with Eleanor that he realized he might have been neglecting his friends. Thinking back on it, some of them seemed to be having some serious problems recently.

Throwing off the covers and striding over to his closet to get ready for work, Louis promised to himself that he would spend the entire day being there for his friends and family.

~

Ashe had been beyond excited (he could tell by the amount of capitalization and smiling emojis) when he offered to pick up breakfast for the two of them that morning. Now she and Louis are sitting outside of the recording booth, a little way away from their bosses, as Ashe slowly devours at least half a dozen muffins.

And by slowly he means in less than five minutes.

Regardless, they are alone for a while—Louis knows that Ben (their supervisor) will be working with the girls from Little Mix for at least the next twenty minutes from days past—and Louis decides that now is the perfect time to talk.

“Hey Ashe?”

“Yes, Lewis?” Louis turns completely toward her and hooks a foot around her ankle.

“Is everything okay with you and Jack?”

Ashe sucks in a breath and slowly breathes out,

“No.”

~  
Twenty minutes and a few short tears later, Ashe squeezes his hand and presses her forehead into his shoulder, “I really needed to get that out. Thank you, Lou.” Louis squeezes back.

~

Louis regrets promising to be extra nice to his friends.

“Look all I’m saying is that it’s common knowledge for _most_ people Louis.”

“How was I supposed to know that? I’ve never even met a Polish person!”

Zayn stares at him for a moment and then deadpans, “The Polish language in Polish is _Polskie_.”

Louis drops his head to the table in shame and wails, “Why am I friends with you, you rat?”

He can hear the smirk in Zayn’s voice as he replies, “So I can teach you basic things. Like the fact that people with -ski at the end of their last name are generally Polish. Also, that adultery does _not_ mean acting like an adult—”

“That was one time!”

Zayn giggles into his hand as Louis glances around the restaurant to see how many people are staring after his little outburst. There’s at least ten. Great.

Louis burns red and mutters, “I dislike you greatly, Zack.”

“Love you too, Lewis.” Louis brings his head up and smiles at Zayn, shaking his head in laughter. After a second, something hits him,

“Hey, about tonight’s small get-together—”

“Party. Continue.”

Louis pouts at him, “Did you want to bring anyone?” Louis wiggles his eyebrows at Zayn, trying his hardest to embarrass him, but because Zayn is the worst, he barely reacts.

“Actually, yeah. A friend of mine is staying on campus and was—”

“Enough said. I approve. If you like him, so do I. You’ll have to introduce us though; I want to meet this Liam you keep speaking of.”

This gets a reaction out of Zayn, whose brows come together immediately. He starts to speak but Louis’ phone buzzes loudly, startling the both of them and Louis stands quickly, collecting his things,

“Shit. I have to pick up Lottie from the airport. But I’ll see you and your _friend_ later. Bye, love.”

Zayn still looks confused, but he raises his hand in a small wave and mutters back, “Bye.”

~

Louis spends the drive up to the Tampa International Airport thinking about what to do with Eleanor. As he drives, the story of how they got together crosses his mind.

_Louis hated government, but it was required for graduation and he was now a senior, so he couldn’t put it off any longer. Literally the only thing that made it bearable was the timid sophomore kid that sat right in front of him. Although it was quite easy to see over his curls—Louis had a few inches on him—he often found himself staring at him instead of the board. Of course, this did not fare well for his grades, but Louis had only realized maybe last year that he wasn’t entirely straight, and it was not his fault the literal definition of cute boy sat in front of him in his least interesting class. Eleanor was in this class too, but she usually sat with her friends Sophia and Danielle. Sometimes, they would strike up a conversation, usually instigated by El coming over to complain about her current boyfriend, but Louis liked someone else’s attention far too much to talk to her often._

_Like right now, their teacher had finished her “lesson” early and they had the rest of the class to fuck around. Most of his classes were like this, for the entire week honestly, because any smart teacher knew they couldn’t maintain the class’s attention during the week of Homecoming. Louis was completely leaned forward in his seat, going on about how he had no idea what to write for his college essay, when the green-eyed boy in front of him spoke up, “Are you going to Homecoming, Louis?”_

_Louis felt his heart rate pick up immediately and he smiled shyly, “I’m not sure yet. Nobody’s asked me.”_

_“Hannah asked you last week,” His friend pointed out and Louis went red as he amended,_

_“Nobody I_ wanted _to ask me has asked me.”_

_His friend smiled shyly back and opened his mouth to say something when he looked over Louis’ shoulder, and his smile tightened. Louis had frowned, turning in his seat and whispering,_

_“What’s up, babe?”_

_Eleanor had looked awful, her face was red and splotchy, and she had entirely ruined her mascara. She sniffed a bit and reached out a hand to pull on his sweater._

_“Lou… Calvin doesn’t want to go to Homecoming with me anymore.” He rose from his seat to pull her into a hug and sighed,_

_“He’s such a dick. You deserve better.” El nods and sniffles into his jumper._

_“What am I supposed to do now? Homecoming is in three days and I already made the reservations, I_ _bought the dress, I even got him a boutonnière!” Louis does not know what the hell that is, but he pulls back from their hug to place his hands on her shoulders and look into her eyes, which have cleared up a little._

_“Hey, it’ll be okay El… I’m sure you’ll find someone, or you can just go with friends?” Eleanor levels a glare at him and Louis pushes out a heavy breath and glances over his shoulder at his friend, who is watching him nervously, bottom lip pulled in his mouth in a way that sends fireworks through his veins. Louis hates himself for it later, but he turns back to Eleanor resignedly and says,_

_“I’ll go with you.”_

The rest is history. Louis goes to Homecoming that Friday with his childhood best friend, Eleanor, and when he drops her off at her house later, and she presses a tentative kiss to his lips, he remembers thinking, _‘I think I could learn to like her.’_

They spent the rest of senior year getting constant ‘finally’s from their classmates who apparently saw it coming and acting like they actually have anything between them to back up the supposed “relationship” they’ve landed in. When Louis gets accepted to the music production program at USF and Eleanor is accepted to both UT and UNF, their parents assume Eleanor will go to UT to be with Louis and they don’t talk for an entire week until Louis finds out from her Instagram that she decided to go to UT. When Louis and Eleanor have an unspoken agreement to apply for housing at their respective colleges, Jay doesn’t leave it alone for weeks, reminding him that “if he and Eleanor want to get an apartment together that’s fine, they’re adults and their parents will even help pay for it.” Finally, Louis has to convince her that USF requires first-years to dorm. When Zayn and Louis are walking to the library and Eleanor passes them, throwing out a “Hey, Lou,” and Louis responds, “Hey, El,” Zayn quirks a brow and asks if they have a class together.

“No, that’s Eleanor.”

Zayn stops walking, “That’s Eleanor? That’s your girlfriend of two years. The one who barely said hi.” Louis stops too and turns, shrugging,

“Yeah.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Um…” Louis frowns, “Pretty sure it is.”

Zayn drops it after that.

In their third year of college, Eleanor spends a semester interning in some big-time label in Orlando that apparently has a bigger branch in LA. Louis only knows this because after her internship, Eleanor sits down with him one night and tells him she’s transferring to UCLA. Maybe it’s not the best indicator that Louis feels almost relieved and congratulates her, but it proves to be mutual when Eleanor seems relieved that he’s not upset.

That’s the night they came closest to breaking up.

But they don’t, and Eleanor is moving in January and they both know they’ll end it, but they don’t.

He pulls into a spot outside of Lottie’s terminal and takes a deep breath. If Louis remembers correctly, it will be about twenty minutes before Lottie will emerge, breathless and sweating, from the airport. So, he picks up his phone, and after a moment of hesitation, presses call on Eleanor’s contact.

She picks up after the third ring.

“Louis?”

“Hey, El… about tonight—”

“Oh, actually, I was just about to call you about that.”

“I know,” Louis says, and the amends, “I mean, well, do you want to cancel?”

He hears her breath a sigh of relief.

“Actually, yes, I do. My work friends want to take me out.”

“Good, good…”

“Yeah…”

After they both try to speak at the same time, Louis lets her go first.

“I just… Louis what are we trying to prove here?”

Louis sighs.

“I don’t know El, I don’t know. Do you think we should—”

“Yeah. Yeah, probably…”

“Okay,” Louis feels a weight fall off his shoulder and he clears his throat before starting, “But, hey, um…”

“Can we stay friends?”

Louis breaths out sharply in a laugh and says, “Yes. I really want to stay friends with you, El, you’re my best friend.”

He hears the grin when she breaths, “I love you, Louis.”

“I love you, too,” Louis states with a smile and then spots his sister, “I have to go, I’m picking Lottie up from the airport, but have fun tonight, yeah? We’ll talk later.”

“Alright, tell her I say hello. Bye.”

Lottie jumps in the passenger seat just as Louis says a goodbye of his own and pockets his cell. She is sweating and red and Louis can’t blame her when its 90 degrees in Florida at the moment.

“Who was that?”

“Eleanor. She says hi.”

Lottie reads his face for a second and then says, “I say hi back,” with a grin.

Louis laughs and suggests, “Dinner?”

Lottie’s face lights up and she says, “Absolutely! But I’m picking, you have horrible taste.”

“Hello to you too, brat.”

“Who are you calling a brat?”

~

When they step outside Louis’ apartment, and Lottie suggests the bakery once again, Louis gives in.

“You’re lucky I love you.” Lottie just sends back a toothy grin and tugs him across the street. When they get to the front, Louis stops in his tracks.

“Closed?”

“Awwww! I really wanted a muffin.” Lottie pouts. Louis is stuck on the closed sign that hasn’t been there for the past four days.

“I could’ve sworn it was open yesterday…” Lottie levels him with a look, “Just because it was open yesterday, doesn’t mean it would be today, stupid.” Louis snaps out of his trance and his thoughts of _something changed something changed something changed_ when she kicks him in the shin.

“Ow! Brat.” She sticks her tongue out at him, which completely proves his point, but he lets it slide and offers to go to the place they’d been going every other time.

~

Louis has almost completely forgotten about the small get-together when he pulls into his spot behind his flat. He is reminded, obviously, when he is pulled inside by two glittery cow-people. It’s only 11:30 this time, so Louis can spend a bit of time with his friends, namely Zayn, who is due for an immediate interrogation.

“Hey Lou! Where’ve you been?” Ashe cheers, coming to squeeze against his side. He glances around but Jack is nowhere to be seen.

“I was driving Lottie home,” He explains and then ducks down so only she can hear, “Where’s Jack?” Ashe smiles and sets her jaw, “Gone.” Louis grins at her and squeezes her back, to which she squeals and bats him away, fucking off with Niall to do more shots. Those two are crazy. Louis grabs a cup from their kitchen table that is presumably filled with alcohol and takes a sip as he enters the living room. He spots Zayn immediately.

There’s a tall brunette at his side who Louis thinks looks a bit familiar, but he walks off to the kitchen before Louis gets over there to get a good look. Louis has never been able to sneak up on Zayn, even when Zayn doesn’t look that sober, so he turns and greets Louis before he can scare his friend. Bastard.

“Hey, Zayn. Where’s your friend?” Zayn smirks a bit and says, “He went to go get drinks. Where’d you go?”

Louis recounts his adventure with his younger sister and Zayn laughs when Louis explains how their mom had admitted to intentionally making Louis pick up his sister. His smile dims though when he seems to realize something,

“Hey, um, Eleanor isn’t here.” Louis sighs and just says, “I know. We broke up. I’m good before you ask.”

Zayn just hums and nudges him with his own foot. Before it can get too somber, Louis leans in conspiratorially “So,” he wiggles his brows excessively, “was that Liam?”

Zayn snorts and says, “No. That was my friend I was talking about at lunch.” Louis’ mind comes to a screeching halt.

“Wait what? I thought you and Liam were getting serious?

“No, Lou. I didn’t ask to bring Liam because that was a given, it’s actually his roommate--“

“Hello, Zayn,” a tall brunette greets, and places a kiss on Zayn’s cheek. His best friend flushes and nods to Louis, who is beyond confused, “Oh, hey, I’m Liam, you must be Louis.”

Louis shakes out of his stupor as realization hits him. He also can’t give up a chance to embarrass his friend.

“You’re Liam! Yes, I’m Louis. It’s great to meet you, lad, heard a lot from this one.” Immediately Zayn sends Louis a withering look and Liam flushes bright red, turning to Zayn with a small but pleased smile. Zayn’s eyes soften at that and Louis smiles before starting, “So—”

“Louis? Louis Tomlinson?”

Everyone’s attention is drawn over Liam’s shoulder where—Holy Shit.

Is that--? Holy Shit.

 _Holy Shit_ it’s him.

Louis grins and goes to answer when Niall bursts from behind them and loops an arm around Louis, drunkenly chanting the countdown.

_4_

Louis makes eye contact with—shit that’s Harry Styles isn’t it—and grins when

_3_

_Harry_ sends him a private smile; the dimple Louis remembers so fondly shows itself and

_2_

Louis feels a bit lighter as he closes his eyes at

_1_

_Happy New Year!_

Then—shit. He’s back in bed and it’s December 31st.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am like halfway through chapter two but I promise I am going to finish this one because I really like the universe!! Lmk if you like it! :)))


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